Bird in custody as bail hearing postponed

Karlis Salna, AAP Southeast Asia Correspondent

Perth man Dominic Bird, acquitted by a Malaysian court last week on charges that carry the death penalty, has been remanded pending a decision on whether he will be granted bail.

Mr Bird was set free by the Kuala Lumpur High Court after being found not guilty of drug trafficking, but was rearrested on Monday just minutes before his flight back to Perth was to depart.

The 33-year-old was at the airport gate with his boarding pass in hand, but immigration officials held on to his passport to prevent him getting on the plane.

Arriving at court on Thursday, he said he was "disappointed" to be back in custody after briefly tasting freedom.

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"Hopefully I will be back on that flight to Perth," Mr Bird said.

His lawyer, Muhammed Shafee Abdullah, had argued in court on Thursday that his client should be allowed to return to Australia, or at the very least be allowed bail, while the appeal process runs its course.

Mr Shafee said the authorities had purposely delayed Mr Bird's departure to buy prosecutors time to lodge a notice of appeal and secure an arrest warrant.

The warrant was issued on Monday morning when Mr Bird failed to appear at a hearing at the Malaysian Court of Appeal, scheduled for 9am local time.

But it has been revealed Mr Bird was unable to attend the hearing because he was in the custody of Malaysian immigration officials, who had taken him to the LCCT terminal at the international airport on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur from where he was to fly home to Perth.

His legal team were not advised of the hearing, and have alleged authorities arranged to ensure Mr Bird would not make the hearing so that they could secure the arrest warrant and prevent him from leaving Malaysia.

"The whole idea was to detain my client so that he is sitting pretty in a lock-up, so that the prosecution could serve him the papers," Mr Shafee said.

"The authorities consciously and deliberately violated the constitutional rights of the accused. They should not be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their transgression."

But Court of Appeal Justice Azahar Mohamed said more time was needed to consider whether Mr Bird should be released on bail, or continue to be remanded pending an appeal by prosecutors against last week's verdict.

The matter was adjourned until Tuesday morning.

Mr Bird was initially arrested in March last year at a cafe near his apartment in Kuala Lumpur after allegedly supplying an undercover police officer with 167 grams of methamphetamine.

Possession of more than 50 grams of the drug carries a mandatory death penalty in Malaysia.

Prosecutors are yet to detail the grounds on which they will appeal the case, while the circumstances surrounding Monday's drama have also prompted accusations from Mr Bird's lawyers that Malaysian authorities conspired to obtain an "unlawful" warrant for his arrest.

Mr Bird has always maintained he was set up by drug squad detective Inspector Luther Nurjib. Last month, Insp Nurjib was found guilty of contempt of court and fined RM2000 ($A665) after it emerged he had threatened and attempted to bribe a witness in the Bird case.